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Old 02-21-2012, 11:25 AM
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Doug Sams Doug Sams is offline
Old Far...er...Rocketeer
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Plano, TX resident since 1998.
Posts: 3,965
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jad ebox
If it had been constructed and finished as well as the ones I've seen at some of our launches, then $50 might be reasonable ... but ....
That's kinda how it struck me, too. 50 bucks starting bid didn't seem too outrageous, but certainly high (for this already-built kit).

That is, there is a market for decently made model rockets. There are folks with 10 brown thumbs who like to own and fly nice models, too, and will pay for assembled kits But I don't think the market prices will ever rise to the actual cost levels.

If you have an artisan who is very quick and efficient with his time, he's still gonna have several hours in a kit like that. A couple hours of his time will quickly consume the 50 bucks. In other words, even with a mediocre finish, from a cost perspective, you can easily make a case for charging 50 bucks and more.

But from a value perspective, most of us here will agree that 50 bucks is kinda high, especially for an opening bid price.

My experience is that it's more art than anything else, so the value is as much in the name as it is in the craftsmanship. If 10 guys built identically finished, quality birds, 9 of them would lose money, and the 10th guy, whose name was Michelangelo or da Vinci or Michielssen would command a disproportionately high figure because of the name.

Maybe that's why I'm not rich yet. I don't have a name. Maybe I'll change mine to Texas Legend Doug Sams Think that'll help?

Doug

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